I think the most important thing to consider is not so much how to be better than another site, but how to be different than another site. Being different can sometimes produce the same results as being better

AlexW: Yep, we’re going for A&B. We feel these two will be more than enough to differentiate ourselves from our competition to the point that the only real similarity is the topic. I think it’s worth mentioning that just because you pick a niche that is very competitive, it doesn’t mean that you actually have to directly compete with your competition on too much.

Example: When you think of gaming web site, one thing you probably think of is games reviews. There are already a million and a half game review sites out there, so if you make a gaming site you should probably include reviews somewhere on your site, but you don’t have to bother actually competing in that sub-niche if you offer enough other stuff that gives your target audience reasons to come to your site they can’t get elsewhere. I like to think of it as going around your competition, rather than above it.

I guess if you’re going to compete in a highly competitive area like gaming you’re going to need either:

a). A differentiator or angle that other sites can’t easily counter or mimic. Perhaps ‘big name’ industry insiders posting/writing for you.

b). A more specific sub-niche, focusing on a real purists approach to one game genre or even one game perhaps.

c). A big marketing budget to out shine the competition

Most people are going to be looking at A & B, at least to begin with.